Speed's killing :(

[dereklol23]

Hi, I've been playing for about 6 months now, dabbled in some easy stuff and am trying to progress to some harder material
I set my eyes on Muse's Map of the Problematique (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtmV5qiNRvY)

I nailed the intro pretty well down, now when I get to the verse, I get pretty frustrated. As you can probably hear, the bass is pretty damn fast, 16th notes I think. I can't play that fast
My friend told me to try a pick, I'm trying to learn how to use it now but to be honest I'd rather use fingers
Is there any way to get up to speed? I can play decently fast, but not near that speed

[tom once dead]

use 3 fingers. thats what I do. but after more experience, its not that hard

[fearceol]

Originally Posted by dereklol23

Is there any way to get up to speed? I can play decently fast, but not near that speed

It might sound like a contradiction, but the best way to build up speed is to start slowly and g-r-a-d-u-a-l-l-y increase the speed.

Also, as you have only been playing six months be patient and give yourself a chance. The bassist you are trying to imitate has probably been playing for years.

[Rudreax]

If you have a metronome, use it. Otherwise use www.metronomeonline.com. Start off by practicing at slow tempos, and gradully increase the speed.

[magickbass]

Originally Posted by fearceol

It might sound like a contradiction, but the best way to build up speed is to start slowly and g-r-a-d-u-a-l-l-y increase the speed.

Also, as you have only been playing six months be patient and give yourself a chance. The bassist you are trying to imitate has probably been playing for years.

+1

My instructor always told me to turn down the metronome to a comfortable tempo. Play it until you can do it without problem, then slowly turn up the tempo. It won't come overnight BUT it will come.

[Joe Nerve]

Originally Posted by magickbass

+1

My instructor always told me to turn down the metronome to a comfortable tempo. Play it until you can do it without problem, then slowly turn up the tempo. It won't come overnight BUT it will come.

+ 2

Find a tempo you can play to comfortably and just do it and do it an do it, like a meditation. Go up a notch in speed and do it again. Go backwards if you get tired, and take little breaks every now and then. Keep concentrating on playing the notes perfectly and musically, don't worry about the speed. What happens is when you're doing it slowly, your muscles are memorizing it and the speed eventually comes. I just had to get a few licks down for a band that were virtually impossible for me to play when I first listened to them. I sat with the metronome for a couple of hours like above, and they quickly became 2nd nature.

[varunkapahi]

youtube is blocked here so i don't know what the clip sounds like but recently i have been listening and trying to play bands like megadeth, metallica and a couple of other thrash metal and heavy metal bands. so i decided on master of puppets, i have been working on that song for almost ten days now. this is my first attempt at a decent metal song. until last week i couldn't nail that song at even 190bpm but right now i can easily play nicely at 220 but i think the original record version is slightly faster.

i just started off at 180 where it was comfortable to me and kept jumping up 5 or 10bpm and kep practicing until i could really nail it at that tempo and then jump another 5 or 10. btw, does any one know what speed in bpm is master of puppets exactly at??

[dereklol23]

thanks for the replies, guys
I'll take your advice in mind

[NKUSigEp]

Originally Posted by dereklol23

Hi, I've been playing for about 6 months now, dabbled in some easy stuff and am trying to progress to some harder material
I set my eyes on Muse's Map of the Problematique (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtmV5qiNRvY)

I nailed the intro pretty well down, now when I get to the verse, I get pretty frustrated. As you can probably hear, the bass is pretty damn fast, 16th notes I think. I can't play that fast
My friend told me to try a pick, I'm trying to learn how to use it now but to be honest I'd rather use fingers
Is there any way to get up to speed? I can play decently fast, but not near that speed

I'm not a fan of the style and Muse always seems to come up so I give it a listen to humour myself and here's what I got...PRACTICE! There are no tricks, no helpful tips, and no shortcuts to playing faster. One day you'll wake up and go, "ohhh, that's how it's done!".

[E2daGGurl]

I'm actually more interested in how to make one note last as long as possible. But the answers you've been given about speed all boil down to one thing:

practice/training.

Like the Olympics.

[Crockettnj]

Originally Posted by fearceol

It might sound like a contradiction, but the best way to build up speed is to start slowly and g-r-a-d-u-a-l-l-y increase the speed.

Slow is smooth and smooth is fast. I didnt make that up, but I always liked the ring of it. I think its a Navy SEAL or DELTA thing. I htink I read it in Blackhawk Down or something else along that theme/time period.

Anyway, its poignant.

Originally Posted by fearceol

Also, as you have only been playing six months be patient and give yourself a chance. The bassist you are trying to imitate has probably been playing for years.

Dude, 6 months. good for you. When I had been playing 6 months I was stoked to do Crazy Train and Rio !! Then again, I'm still not all that good 22 years later.

[dereklol23]

Originally Posted by Crockettnj

Slow is smooth and smooth is fast. I didnt make that up, but I always liked the ring of it. I think its a Navy SEAL or DELTA thing. I htink I read it in Blackhawk Down or something else along that theme/time period.

Anyway, its poignant.




Dude, 6 months. good for you. When I had been playing 6 months I was stoked to do Crazy Train and Rio !! Then again, I'm still not all that good 22 years later.

Thanks
I started with Rage Against the Machine stuff, and while I like it, it's kind of boring, and Chris from Muse is one of the guys who got me into playing bass so I figured I'd try a little bit of a leap :P

[theunknowndude]

Originally Posted by varunkapahi

youtube is blocked here so i don't know what the clip sounds like but recently i have been listening and trying to play bands like megadeth, metallica and a couple of other thrash metal and heavy metal bands. so i decided on master of puppets, i have been working on that song for almost ten days now. this is my first attempt at a decent metal song. until last week i couldn't nail that song at even 190bpm but right now i can easily play nicely at 220 but i think the original record version is slightly faster.

i just started off at 180 where it was comfortable to me and kept jumping up 5 or 10bpm and kep practicing until i could really nail it at that tempo and then jump another 5 or 10. btw, does any one know what speed in bpm is master of puppets exactly at??

I think it is at 220bpm from memory or very close...
the fastest I can play is around 240-260,... and I actually ended up going faster than the recording,.... but it sounded horrible the main problem I have is playing fast whilst playing up and down the strings... pumping an open E isnt too hard after some practice, but the riff where they basically play a major scale near the end up and down the strings defeats me at that tempo!

[ysand]

Pick or 3 finger technique is't the answer.
Proper technique, and lots of practicing in slow tempos (and gradually faster ones) is.

[varunkapahi]

Originally Posted by theunknowndude

I think it is at 220bpm from memory or very close...
the fastest I can play is around 240-260,... and I actually ended up going faster than the recording,.... but it sounded horrible the main problem I have is playing fast whilst playing up and down the strings... pumping an open E isnt too hard after some practice, but the riff where they basically play a major scale near the end up and down the strings defeats me at that tempo!

yeah pumping on one single note or something similar is far far easier to play and one can go at much higher speeds that way. but playing those not so simple riffs is the hassle at 220bpm

[varunkapahi]

Originally Posted by theunknowndude

I think it is at 220bpm from memory or very close...
the fastest I can play is around 240-260,... and I actually ended up going faster than the recording,.... but it sounded horrible the main problem I have is playing fast whilst playing up and down the strings... pumping an open E isnt too hard after some practice, but the riff where they basically play a major scale near the end up and down the strings defeats me at that tempo!

yeah pumping on one single note or something similar is far far easier to play and one can go at much higher speeds that way. but playing those not so simple riffs is the hassle at 220+bpm

[Bassorama57]

Originally Posted by Crockettnj

Then again, I'm still not all that good 22 years later.

The problem is..by the time you get good, you start to develop arthritis! Damn the luck!

[theunknowndude]

Originally Posted by varunkapahi

yeah pumping on one single note or something similar is far far easier to play and one can go at much higher speeds that way. but playing those not so simple riffs is the hassle at 220+bpm

yeah im having trouble with metallica and master of puppets,... most the song I can play, the run up and down the E A and D strings near the end I just cannot pull off at that speed,...

im also having fun with anesthesia the cliff burton solo,... learning to do everything in that song VERY slowly,... doing tapping fast just isn't happening right now!!!

must go practice!

[namraj]

Originally Posted by fearceol

The bassist you are trying to imitate has probably been playing for years.

probably? certainly, muse have been around for years so we can say with some certainty that he has at least been playing all the time muse have been around

[namraj]

try thumb finger alternate picking techniques, i think they work well